Elder Fraud in Wyoming

The Kentwood Police Department is warning residents about a "brushing scam" where unsolicited packages containing items like jewelry or electronics arrive at their doors with no return address. The scam typically escalates when recipients scan a QR code or visit a website included in the package that mimics legitimate banking or government sites, where criminals harvest personal and financial information for identity theft and fraud. Residents are advised to be cautious with unexpected packages and avoid clicking links or entering information into unfamiliar websites.

The Wyoming Department of Health is hosting a free virtual webinar on June 15, 2026, to raise awareness about elder abuse and exploitation, which affects millions of older adults annually through physical neglect, financial scams, and other forms of mistreatment. The two-hour event aims to educate community members, caregivers, and older adults themselves on recognizing and reporting abuse. Interested attendees can join without registration by visiting the provided link on the Wyoming Department of Health website.

Digital scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated and prevalent in Sheridan, with police reporting major losses including an $80,000 and $16,000 scam already in May alone. Residents are being targeted by various schemes including grandparent scams, bank impersonation, and tech support fraud, with scammers using fear and urgency as their primary tactic. Police advise anyone receiving aggressive or urgent demands over the phone to hang up immediately, as legitimate organizations will never pressure you to act instantly.

AARP Wyoming's new volunteer group "the Fraudettes" launched a monthly educational series to help people recognize and avoid scams before financial or personal harm occurs. Their first session in March covered romance scams and a phishing attack on Laramie County Library, where criminals compromised a staff member's email account to attempt ransomware deployment; the library avoided losses through quick IT response and off-site backups, with no patron data compromised.

AARP offers Dr. Virginia Vincenti, a University of Wyoming professor with over a decade of research experience in elder abuse and financial exploitation, as a speaker for community events. Dr. Vincenti delivers presentations on recognizing abuse warning signs, understanding vulnerability factors, and implementing protective legal measures through power-of-attorney documents and wills. Her research-based, compassionate approach is designed to help seniors, caregivers, and professionals prevent financial exploitation and elder abuse.

In 2023, Wyoming residents and companies lost $13.7 million to scams, with investment fraud being the costliest at $5.7 million, followed by business email compromise ($2.3 million) and data breaches ($1.5 million), according to the CyberWyoming Alliance's annual report. Extortion, tech support, and non-payment scams affected the most victims, while impersonation of companies like PayPal, Geek Squad, and Kohl's and spoofing of individuals were common tactics. The report recommends that business leaders educate employees to verify unusual requests through alternative channels before acting on them.

A 76-year-old man in Gillette, Wyoming was nearly victimized in a cryptocurrency ATM scam when he attempted to deposit $16,000 after being manipulated by a scammer who kept him on the phone; a bystander alerted police, preventing the loss. Cheyenne police have identified 50 BTM fraud cases totaling over $645,000 in unrecovered losses, part of a nationwide pattern where seniors lose retirement funds to overseas criminals who use emotional manipulation to direct victims to crypto kiosks. AARP is proposing new regulations for cryptocurrency machines as the FBI estimates $9.3 billion was stolen through various crypto frauds in